Guatemalans Elect Civilian President

GUATEMALA CITY — Christian Democrat Vinicio Cerezo declared victory early today in presidential runoff elections that will end 31 years of military dominated rule.

``Now, yes, I am the president-elect of Guatemala,`` Cerezo said, entering the packed election headquarters at the Camino Real Hotel amid shouts from supporters of ``Long live Vinicio.``

Cerezo, a harsh critic of army rule, tallied 1,117,318 votes, or 68.52 percent of the those cast, with 97.81 percent of the ballots counted from Sunday`s election. His opponent, Jorge Carpio of the center-right Union of the National Center, compiled 513,438 votes, or 31.48 percent of those cast.

Cerezo thanked the people of Guatemala for ``fulfilling their obligation.

``Now, I`m going to fulfill mine,`` he said.

Carpio conceded defeat at the headquarters, saying, ``We recognize this electoral triumph.`` He said his party would adopt the role of a ``constructive and watchful`` opposition.

Cerezo congratulated Carpio for creating the second-strongest political force in Guatemala and praised the army for ``playing one of the greatest roles in the country`s history`` by carrying out the elections.

The tabulation closely matched a pre-election poll by the Miami-based Spanish International Network, which gave Cerezo 67 percent of the vote.

The local television station Teleprensa said its poll of one-fifth of electoral stations gave Cerezo the same percentage of victory.